The month of March was power-packed with deals, events, campaigns and news. The first quarter is now over, and March really heated up the space.I write a monthly column for the subscribers of Campaign US called the Cultural Campaign Recap. You can read it here.This month, looked at some key themes in March beyond the tentpole cultural moments of SXSW, Art Basel Hong Kong, NCAA’s March Madness, Women’s History Month, Miami Music Week, Opening Day in Baseball, St. Patrick's Day and more.Here are some key themes that we pulled in our monthly cultural round-up for March:Breakout stars of the month: Murakami, White Lotus, and Bad Bunny with multiple interesting campaigns and partnerships.Overview of the key themes that support our round up:Musician Are Still The Ultimate Influencers: We saw a bunch of big music artists showing up in campaigns in March. These aren’t necessarily commercials but involve tapping into musicians as celebrities and putting them into social, print, digital and short-form video content.Shoes, Shoes and More Footwear: Shoe collabs have been dominating 2025 so far, and March rolled out a bunch more that were not obvious and were attention grabbing.The Beverage Category Pops: There is so much room for innovation in the beverage category, and we saw some big culture collabs hit the market in March.Murakami’s Style Sells Products: The style and artwork rang big in culture this month with multiple collaborations.Nostalgia Brings Comfort: In a choppy economic and political climate, you can count on nostalgic themes to bring you back to the good old times. That theme played out in March with these campaigns.We also did a quick video recap for Linkedin that you can check out here.
BEATS
March Proved It’s Murakami’s World And Brands Are Happily Living In ItA monthly cultural roundup of campaigns at the intersection of music and advertising (Jesse Kirshbaum).
Liquid Death Unleashes 'Greatest Hates,' Country StyleFirst, Beyoncé went country. Now, Liquid Death puts its canny spin on western music stylings. Nashville star Carter Faith croons “I’d Never Drink Some Shit Called Liquid Death.” This marks the fourth time LD has forged lyrics from nasty comments left by brand detractors. Previous efforts featured metal, punk and dance-pop (Muse by Clios).
Spotify and Barcelona to Announce Taylor Swift as El Clásico Shirt SponsorBarcelona and Spotify are due to announce Taylor Swift as the next artist to feature as the club’s front-of-shirt sponsor for the upcoming La Liga El Clásico (Versus).
Arm & Hammer and Meghan Trainor Teamed Up for a New CampaignArm & Hammer and Meghan Trainor have announced a new partnership that sees the Grammy award-winning artist working with the brand to encourage consumers to try out the new Power Sheets laundry detergent sheets (Trend Hunter).
Fans React As Haribo Teases Collaboration With BLACKPINK’s JennieThe German candy brand Haribo has set the Internet abuzz with a cryptic post hinting at a collaboration with BLACKPINK’s Jennie. Fans have been speculating about the prospect of capybara-shaped gummies since the post was shared on social media (Sportskeeda).
JoJo Siwa Is Selling VIP Tour Tickets for over $900 Where Fans Can 'Help' Her Crew Set Up for ConcertsBilled as the Dream Guest VIP option, priced at over $900 per fan, the package includes an "exclusive invitation to JoJo's live show setup" and the ability to help the Dance Moms alum "put together the show with song selection input,” (People).
Taste Requires EmpathyWhen we say a person has bad taste, in any area, we’re saying they’re unreliable curators of inspiration, and mostly because they interject too much of themselves into the experience. Empathy leaves a gap. A good critic highlights the gap (Cultish Creative).
Timbo IDO Global SearchTimbaland is on a mission and the global search is on to discover top 5 music artists to join and be featured in Timbo’s next music album. This unreal opportunity is open to all music genres as you will be promoting your talent by connecting and engaging with your fans and use your influence to raise funds and awareness for a non profit organization “Adopting Courage” (Orbiiit).
BYTES
Terence Reilly brought Crocs back from the dead, turned the Stanley Quencher into a phenomenon and is now President of HEYDUDE shoes. Learn how a modern magnate stays in touch with the culture and lifts brands into the stratosphere.
Nardwuar's 7th interview with Tyler, the Creator. VanDusen Garden, Vancouver, BC Canada! Doot doo!
Hook, an AI-powered startup music platform that enables users to create and earn from legally licensed music mashups and remixes, has announced it has closed $3 million in additional funding.
Will Smith released his highly anticipated new album on March 28, marking his return to music after focusing on his acting career. The project blends his signature hip-hop style with new sonic elements, while delivering his most personal lyrics to date.
This week's newsletter was carefully curated by the Nue Agency staff and our editor Rachel Meisner If you think we missed something this week or have any suggestions/comments for next week's newsletter, let us know!